


Staying

by Leahelisabeth (fortheloveofcamelot)



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Cats, Christmas Fluff, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-09 21:10:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12896898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofcamelot/pseuds/Leahelisabeth
Summary: AFTG Christmas exchange fic for @corpsejily.  A soft sleepy Christmas Eve morning. Nothing but fluff.





	Staying

It’s raining. Neil can hear the tapping on the window and see the patterns streaking the window in the early dawn light. He sticks his arm out from under the covers but quickly thinks better of it. Maybe they should turn up the temperature and forget about saving cost. It’s Christmas Eve after all. They can justify a little extra warmth.

Andrew grumbles sleepily from the mound of blankets beside him. Neil pulls his arm back into the warmth of their bed and sticks his head under the covers. “What?” he whispers.

“You’re letting in the cold,” Andrew mumbles.

“It’s raining,” Neil says. He steels himself to crawl out from under the blankets for real this time but Andrew reaches out and grips Neil’s wrist tightly. 

“Stay,” he says.

“I was gonna go for a run…” Neil’s voice trails off and he knows he doesn’t sound particularly convincing.

“By all means, Neil, you can be predictable and go for a run that’s more punishment than pleasure,” Andrew shifts himself a little closer until his morning breath is tickling Neil’s neck. “Or, you can stay here under the blankets and be helpful.”

Neil realizes that Andrew is trembling a little, even under the blankets. “Oh,” he says. “Yes or no?”

“Obviously, it’s a yes. It’s my idea,” Andrew rolls his eyes and tugs on Neil’s wrist.

“What do you want?” Neil asks. “Tell me what to do.”

Andrew looked at him for a while and Neil was content to let him. Finally, he tugged Neil’s wrist a little harder, rolling onto his back as he did so. Neil followed until he was blanketing Andrew’s form, head tucked into Andrew’s neck, legs bracketing Andrew’s waist. Andrew dropped his arms to his sides and Neil pressed his palms into the mattress on either side of Andrew’s shoulders.

“Now go back to sleep,” Andrew said firmly. “We don’t have practice today and we have no errands to run. You can spend a few hours doing nothing.”

Neil fiercely willed down the hints of arousal stirring his belly as Andrew drifted off again. He lay there for a while, wondering how long he would have to do this before he could sneak out for his run, but also enjoying Andrew’s strength, the even rise and fall of his chest even under Neil’s weight, and how easy it was to just sink into Andrew and allow him to be the support. He didn’t intend to sleep but his eyes grew heavy and he was matching his breaths to Andrew’s and he drifted off without another thought.

* * *

The next thing he became aware of was a fuzzy head butting into his cheek and a discordant mrroww. He was still draped mostly over Andrew but he had migrated lower so his head was resting on Andrew’s chest and Andrew’s hands were no longer at his sides but one gripped Neil’s shoulder tightly and the other was tangled into his hair.

“Cats are hungry,” Andrew said drowsily.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Neil said, surprised. He half expected Andrew to let go but he kept his hands where they were. “Should I feed them?”

“Can you do it without getting out of bed?” Andrew rubbed slow circles into his shoulder.

“Um...no?” Neil said.

Andrew sighed and detangled his fingers from Neil’s hair. “I figured. Come on, let’s go.” He maneuvered both of them out of the bed, snagging the blanket to wrap around them, and pulled Neil to the kitchen. Neil stepped out of the warmth of the blanket to grab the cat food while Andrew made coffee.

Andrew poured two mugs and a bowl of cereal and walked into the living room without a word. By the time Neil caught up to him, he was already in a blanket nest on the couch, one cup warming his hands and the other sitting steaming on the coffee table. He reaches out of the cocoon occasionally to take a bite of the cereal perched on the end table. Allison and Renee had come over two days ago with a disposable tree and decorations declaring that they weren't allowed to go another Christmas without one. Andrew had rolled his eyes and left the room while they forced Neil to set it up. Neil smirked fondly when he realized that Andrew had snatched half a dozen candy canes off the tree, unwrapped them, and stuck them in his coffee cup to melt. The smell of peppermint and coffee surrounded him like a cloud. 

Neil was torn. He looked at Andrew and he wanted but he could hear the drumming in his blood, telling him to keep moving and never slow down. Then Andrew cleared his throat and nudged the coffee mug with his foot and Neil got the hint. He crawled back under the blankets and Andrew fired up the x-box that he rarely used.

Neil sat next to Andrew, close enough to feel the warmth of his skin, but not close enough to touch. He watched while Andrew started up Mario Kart. It was one of the games he had played before and sometimes he would race Andrew but he didn’t reach for the other controller and Andrew started a solo play. He kept the sound low, almost inaudible. He enjoyed playing video games but never wanted to do it anywhere else because the combination of loud music and sounds with the action on screen was too much to deal with all at once.

Neil watched for a while but he could feel an itch under his skin and he looked out the window. The rain had turned to thick and fluffy flakes of snow. It wasn’t quite sticking to the ground yet and Neil knew it would get on his hair and melt and drip down into his collar and he wasn’t prepared for the aching of the damp cold. But in here with Andrew’s silence, it let his mind get too loud and he craved the quietness he could only achieve while his feet were striking pavement.

“Stop it,” Andrew glared over at Neil.

“Stop what?” Neil asked.

Andrew looked pointedly at Neil’s leg which was bouncing up and down so fiercely that King was perched on the couch beside him and swatting at it. Neil hadn’t even noticed.

“Sorry,” Neil flushed.

Andrew looked at him. “Thought you had left the rabbit behind,” he said carefully, focussing on the screen just in time to see himself go up in an explosion. He shrugs, the picture of indifference. 

“I’m not the rabbit anymore. You told me to stay and I’m going to stay,” Neil frowned. “I’m just...it’s...loud.”

Andrew nodded and turned off the television.

“Not...that’s fine. I’m loud,” Neil said. “I’m getting better but I can still hear her sometimes. Even after she died, she was still the voice in my head telling me to run. At least now, I don’t feel like I need to run away.”

Andrew looked at Neil for a while before turning the TV back on. He reached over and gripped Neil’s neck. “Stay,” he whispered. Neil is surprised to realize that he can see vulnerability in Andrew’s eyes. Andrew opened his mouth to say more but choked the words back, his mask slowly slipped back down.

“What?” Neil asks softly before the moment is lost.

“I...I need you beside me today,” Andrew admits as he averts his eyes. His grip on Neil’s neck tightens.

“I don’t know if I can,” Neil said. “Running is the only thing that drowns her out when I get like this.”

“Do you trust me?” Andrew asks.

“Always,” Neil replies.

Andrew tugs carefully and Neil follows with no resistance. He scoots his hips forward so Neil can rest with his ear pressed into Andrew’s soft stomach and he goes back to his video game.

Neil listens. He can hear Andrew’s stomach gurgling as it digests his breakfast and if he moves up a little, he can hear the steady beat of Andrew’s heart. Andrew’s elbow finds a place on Neil’s shoulder as he starts the game again. And then Andrew starts humming. Neil doesn’t remember what the song is called but he knows it’s one of Andrew’s favourites. And now he isn’t just hearing it. He can feel it resonating through Andrew’s chest and pleasantly vibrating so he can feel it through his whole body. Neil sighs and relaxes the rest of the way into Andrew, into this little pocket of peace that Andrew created. Tomorrow they’ll have to go out, to meet Aaron and Kevin, Nicky and Erik for Christmas Day. Tomorrow Neil can talk about Exy and drown out the call of the road. But for today, his mother’s voice is quiet, his feet are still, and Andrew is enough.


End file.
